Shadow
by Vampy Sparda
Summary: Very short, very Ladycentric drabble. Another excuse to practice action scenes.


Lady felt that small shadow of fear that came every time she took on one of these missions. Find the demons, kill them; the customers just loved simplifying the whole operation in their minds. You hire someone, they do their job, you've got nothing to worry about. The moon was out like it was on every eventful night; seems the demons love to kill in its lunar glow. Usually the moon was made to be some romantic thing; like when couples kiss in a movie there's always a full moon lighting the soft contours of their faces. Lady would always see that and think of how she thought the moon was such a cold thing. While the sun was fiery, moving, hot, the moon was smooth, quiet, cold. Just liked a pair of brothers she used to know…

She shook herself awake as she hefted Kalina Ann higher up on her shoulder. She turned again as the feeling of being followed bit at her back. Whenever she got that feeling, she was _counting_ on the fact that something was following her. Lady unholstered one of her handguns and pointed it at the ground as she kept along the street. Abandoned, as always. It suited her, though, that the streets be devoid of life. Made hunting easier.

Empty apartments and litter were all that dotted the lonely road. A growl eminated from her left and she turned, the world slowing as it always did. A Blade leaped from behind a Dumpster, claws stretched out but before it could connect with flesh a bullet pushed it backwards. It flipped once in the air and landed on the cement with a dull thud, the armored scales on its back scraping along as it twisted its reptilian body back onto four feet.

Lady let loose a barrage before it could recover any farther. Unhooking a grenade from her belt, she pulled the pin expertly with her teeth while still letting loose with the handgun, and as she tossed the grenade behind her shoulder another Blade slithered along the ground behind her. It didn't get close before an explosion burst from under its belly, setting fire to the chunks of flesh and skin that flew in all directions from the blast.

The bullets ended as the black smoke dissolved in the light breeze that played along the moonlit mile. The first Blade was barely recognizable from the amount of ammunition she had pumped into it. She let the empty cartridge fall to the ground as she reloaded, but instead of keeping it out she holstered it back onto her belt. She then removed the Kalina Ann from her back and held it firmly, listening to the stale quiet.

Sputtering growls then split simultaneously from every direction and Lady turned in a full circle, finding herself completely surrounded. The thought of a diversion quickly passed by her mind as every lizard demon leaped at once, claws ready to rend. She shot a missile to a group of three to her immediate left, the demons vanishing in the blast. Lady spun in a tight circle, the jagged blade at the end of her Kalina Ann hitting each of the Blades' heads but not sharp enough to cut through the faded pearl white of their armored masks. She threw the weapon in a last-ditch effort and it glided easily through the light green stomach of one Blade but completely missed all the rest. The remaining demons were back on the ground but only a few feet away as the paced back and force in unison.

A claw shot out and sliced her leg as she was reaching for her handguns and she stumbled, falling back onto her back. A Blade hopped on top of her, effectively keeping her on the ground as it went to work on her stomach, easily ripping through her clothes and into her stomach, She managed to get a handgun out with an unsteady hand and got one in the back leg before hammering the butt of it into the chin of the one ripping her stomach. Her violet eyes had started seeing faded red as blood seeped down her sides and soaked into her shorts. The one on top of her flopped over, deep gouges in its head from the relentless assault. She threw it away from her and the others went after it, by some miracle. Lady could hear the unmistakable tear of flesh from bone as the other demons started devouring their still barely alive brother. She relinquished the bloody handgun and placed shaking arms behind her to hoist herself up, but fell back with a boneless flop. All she could see was red, and a gloved hand went to the wound in her belly, several deep cuts running jaggedly along it. She thought she could feel bone and the pain hit her at once as adrenaline faded, the pain on the edge of knocking her out.

Her eyes closed briefly but opened slowly again as the sound of feasting demons ended and the lizards turned back to her with jade eyes, grinning with crimson-stained teeth. A dark red shadow flew through her already red vision as the distinct sound of handguns showered around her as the Blades shuddered and twitched under a storm of bullets. A snap of a coat sounded dull and far away to her ears. She smiled, despite the pain, her other free hand going to her belly, her legs curling closer to her body.

_'So he was following me after all…'_ was her only thought as the darkness swallowed her whole. The ring of an unsheathed sword followed her. 


End file.
